Could you give us a geographic area to work with? If you're coming from Gurnee, I wouldn't want to recommend a place in Chicago Heights (I happen to love a place down there--Clarke's Garden Center--where I have found Bhut Jolokia and a few other good ones). I've had great luck at Green City Market (leaning shed has a lot of interesting pepper plants) and Gesthemane up in Andersonville if you're close to the city. If you prefer the burbs, let us know where and you'll likely get better recommendations.

"Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad." Miles Kington

I'm in Wicker Park so I'll definitely check out Green City Market this Saturday. Gethsemane is always worth a visit as well. Is it a bit too soon to expect to see seedlings out, or to plant them outside?

I'm in Wicker Park so I'll definitely check out Green City Market this Saturday. Gethsemane is always worth a visit as well. Is it a bit too soon to expect to see seedlings out, or to plant them outside?

I saw a few at the Green City Market this past Saturday, but there will be a lot more later this month. I usually don't bother planting peppers until late May. I wouldn't bother buying the plan now unless there is a particular variety that you want and you fear it will be more difficult to find later.

I know this thread is old, but for future refrence, Meinke's on Touhy in Niles as ghoast peppers, hot indian peppers, and just about any other pepper you could ever want. Their selection of veggies is rediculous. Also, Fresh Farms International Market, one of the best groceries around, is right accross the street.

I made a stop at Milaeger's in Racine on the way home from Madison, and found an amazing assortment of chiles, including chiltepin plants, which I've *never* seen before. Great selection of super-hot chiles, including many colors of Habaneros, Fatallis, and Bhut Jolokias. Well worth the drive. It's the Abt of garden centers.

Giving this old thread a bump to note some hot pepper plants I noted this afternoon at Johnson's Farm Produce at the Hobart location.

Three varieties in four-inch pots at $4.99 each. The Carolina Reapers were quite large in height and width with great looking foliage and probably near the upper bound for plant versus pot size to be in great condition. The Trinidad Scorpians were much smaller and also looked great. The Ghosts, on the other hand, were pretty small plants more on the order of plants commonly in cell packs.

They had quite a range of peppers in cell packs at $1.99 (four plants) or $2.79 (six plants). Notable hot varieties were Habanero, Scotch Bonnet, Thai Hot and Tabasco.

I was glad to see a nice variety of superhots at Adams and Sons this weekend: Carolina Reaper, Chocolate Scorpion, and at least another I can't recall. That said, the past few years growing superhots has resulted in huge harvests of peppers I can't really eat. I donated most of last year's harvest to Rob at Butcher and Larder for his atomic sausages.

That said, I'm on the look out this year for interesting peppers with minimal heat. Any recommendations? I'd like to find whatever the pepper is that's basically a heatless habanero.